From marine waste to fashion: A journey of flip-flops and trash heroes from Thailand’s far south
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From marine waste to fashion: A journey of flip-flops and trash heroes from Thailand's far south
A flip-bomb produced past social enterprise Tlejourn (right) is made from discarded shoes washed upwardly by the ocean on the beaches of Thailand. (Photograph: Pichayada Promchertchoo)
PATTANI, Thailand: It was a journey that began 5 years ago on the islands of Satun, with 100,000 flip-flops and sandals that had been spat out by the body of water and washed ashore.
It was not known where this debris had come from or how far information technology had travelled earlier reaching some of the most cute beaches in southern Thailand.
It took three months of daily work for all of it to be collected by environmental volunteers in a group called Trash Hero. All of them were crammed into the back of a lorry – a pile of marine trash heading for a new life in Pattani, hundreds of kilometres away.
These discarded shoes may have been unwanted before, but someone wanted them now.
"I contacted them to ask for some body of water waste product we were experimenting with," said Nattapong Nithi-Uthai, a lecturer at the Faculty of Science and Engineering of Prince of Songkla Academy in Pattani province. He teaches at the Department of Prophylactic and Polymer Technology.
When the shoes arrived at his firm, he was stunned. Tens of thousands of flip-flops brought together from the sea were piled on meridian of ane some other in a x-wheeled truck – dingy, mismatched and worthless.
The sight struck Nattapong, as he realised the shocking multitude of ocean debris.
"They said they had collected 80,000kg of marine trash in three months and that my part alone weighed 8,000kg, including some 100,000 pieces of shoe," he said.
I didn't picture show in that location'd be so much ocean waste. It's unimaginable when you don't meet information technology with your ain eyes.
The mount of flip-flops in forepart of his business firm and the underlying reality of marine trash motivated Nattapong to seek a solution.
At that time, he was coaching a team of students to upcycle waste as role of the Thai Immature Leaders Programme nether One Young World – an annual global effect that brings together young talent from diverse countries and sectors to create social impact through initiatives and new ventures.
His team chose to develop a business model that would turn discarded flip-flops from Thai beaches into new ones of higher quality and value. The projection was called Tlejourn. It ways 'wandering across the sea' in Thai.
Today, Tlejourn has grown into a social enterprise that non only recycles ocean waste material simply likewise supports the local economy and raises awareness about marine debris through its products – flip-flops.
Their signature is a colourful insole made of tiny pieces of discarded shoes. Each one of them is unique and carries a message about the waste trouble.
"Our solution isn't about technology only rather mindset," Nattapong said.
"Waste material shouldn't just be used as a filler. It should exist turned into a new product because a production can sell and requires a raw material. So if nosotros use waste as raw material, its commercial function can bulldoze its utilisation."
"TLEJOURN": WALK WITH A STORY
Thailand is facing a serious environmental challenge acquired by millions of tonnes of plastic waste. In fact, it is the fifth biggest contributor in the world to ocean droppings.
According to a 2022 report by environmental advancement group Ocean Conservancy, more than one-half of plastic waste in the bounding main originated from China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand.
"Unless steps are taken to manage this waste properly, by 2025 the bounding main could contain one tonne of plastic for every three tonnes of finfish - an unthinkable outcome," the report added.
READ: Commentary - Recycle or reduce waste material? Why Southeast Asia'south bounding main plastic pile has no easy answers
Before this month, the Thai environment minister chosen for activity to tackle environmental challenges the country is facing.
"Information technology is time we came together to practise something. Somehow along the way, from at present on, nosotros have to make sure people in this world realise if we don't practise something nearly our surroundings, our nature, our natural resources, we won't survive. We will not prevail," said Varawut Silpa-archa in an address to politicians, diplomats and journalists in an event in Bangkok.
The magnitude of waste in the ocean has made many Thais more eco-conscious. In recent years, products made with recycled materials accept go increasingly common in local stores.
Tlejourn flip-flops are known among environmentalists and way brand owners wishing to share the kickoff-up's story through their products and practise something for the environment. Currently, the social enterprise has more than than twenty,000 followers on its Facebook folio, and the number is growing.
Different other shoe brands, however, Tlejourn does not promote condolement or design but rather a story about waste matter and what consumers tin do for the environs and society.
"Our story is the real product," said Nattapong.
For every footstep we've taken to develop, our product is our story, completely. We crafted our story before we even designed our shoe model.
The social enterprise partners with a global network of environmentalists from Trash Hero to source key raw materials – discarded flip-flops – for its production.
Trash Hero is a not-profit volunteer-based group. It was formed on the island of Lipe in Satun before expanding across Southeast Asia and into Commonwealth of australia, Europe and the Us.
Information technology has worked with more 330,000 volunteers worldwide and collected around 1.65 million kg of garbage, including at least 36 million plastic bottles.
"We don't selection up trash to make it make clean but nosotros practise it to clean our mind, to cease creating waste matter in the futurity, and to be aware of where trash comes from," said Nattapong, who as well supervises Trash Hero'south networks in Thailand.
"People who pick up trash wouldn't want to create waste product. They'd be highly aware. We desire to build this group of people to change club on a wider scale."
Every week, "trash heroes" across Thailand assemble to collect garbage. Discarded shoe are separated and transported to Tlejourn's production base in Pattani for recycling.
They are cleaned, shredded and mixed with polymer mucilage, so compressed and moulded into sheets. Afterwards, soles of unlike sizes are cut out. Whatever remains re-enters the same recycling process to produce other pairs of soles.
The materials are then transported to a modest hamlet in Klong Maning, where a group of shoemakers get together the flip-flops and packet them by hand, gear up for distribution. They are available in different models, with prices ranging from 399 baht to one,980 baht (US$13 to US$64).
READ: Atlantic plastic levels far higher than thought, according to study
FROM TRASH TO Off-white TRADE
Over the by 5 years, Tlejourn has offered tonnes of waste product a new life and purpose by giving it commercial value. Its flip-flops are for sale at several retailers in Thailand. The enterprise has also collaborated with other shoe brands to convey its bulletin to more consumers.
Only for its creators, the goal is not clean beaches and oceans or business expansion. What they want to encounter is an organic modify in public mindset, not only about waste and the environs simply too about how enterprises could shift priorities to help reshape social club for the better.
"We desire a social enterprise that goes across the boundary a little – i with an ideal and to not just be some other non-profit body," Nattapong said.
The upshot is a zero-turn a profit business model that strives to reduce social inequality and promote fair trade. It seeks to empower local artisans with express job opportunities, preserve their traditional livelihoods, and provide extra income.
Each pair of flip-flops has a stock-still price that tin exist every bit divided by three. The offset part covers the costs of transport and recycling. The second part goes to local villagers who assemble the shoes. The third part is a fixed corporeality of profit for retail stores that sell Tlejourn flip-flops at a regulated toll.
"This reduces inequality because commonly, when a business grows, nosotros'll come across a gap between CEOs and labourers. That gap ever grows. But with our model, it won't happen because nosotros motility in parallel," Nattapong said.
If we expect at labour in whatsoever business, it's on the wrong side of the account book. Labour is an expense, excluded from the partnership. Then, from an entrepreneur'due south or an industrialist's perspective, it's clear they have to lower it.
Tlejourn built a preparation and production centre in a local hamlet of Klong Maning. The space is open up to public and welcomes anyone who wishes to earn extra income by assembling flip-flops.
"I have a small child and other children I need to ship to school," said villager Rohaning Palaya, 32. "I have to stay at home. And so I do this job because it allows me to accept care of my kid."
With precision, she punctures holes for shoe straps with a hammer while her friend glues the soles together. For five years now, they have been earning actress income from making flip-flops without having to travel far for work in the city.
Rohaning is one of a few women in the village who work with Tlejourn. They share a like lifestyle that requires them to take care of immature children and the elderly at dwelling house.
Before the social enterprise was created, a number of women in the village were jobless and had to rely on their husbands for financial support. Today, with the extra income from shoe-making, their life has improved.
"The job gives extra income to people in the community," Rohaning said. "My life has inverse for the improve."
Away from her hamlet, trash is scattered forth the beaches of Pattani – plastic bags, bottles, used diapers, lighters and dingy flip-flops done up by the ocean waves.
Some of information technology will exist picked up by trash heroes when they get together for the calendar week. But more than will gather from the incoming waves, day afterward twenty-four hour period, unless ecology solutions like this tin can finally interruption the wheel of waste.
Source: https://cnalifestyle.channelnewsasia.com/asia/marine-waste-fashion-journey-flip-flops-and-trash-heroes-thailands-far-south-294846
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